Most of us having a checking and savings account—that's pretty standard. But there are a handful of other kinds of accounts offered by banks and credit unions. We thought we'd put together a primer on the basic types of accounts, so you can see which ones might work for you.

Basic Checking and Savings Accounts

You probably know about these already, but let's start with checking and savings accounts anyway. A basic checking account is an accessible place to park your money—you can easily move your funds around. We've written about the features to look for in a good checking account before, but to recap, you want to find an account that offers:

No monthly fees

No minimum balance requirement

No limits on the number of transactions

Online and mobile access

Free ATM access

And these have become pretty common features. Yes, some checking accounts come with fees, but it's pretty easy to find a no-fee checking account. In fact, The Simple Dollar has a list of five of "the best" free checking accounts:

Capital One 360

EverBank Yield Pledge

Ally Interest Checking

GoBank

Bank5 Connect High Interest Checking

Like checking accounts, savings accounts are also designed to be liquid—this means you can easily access your money when you need to.

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A few features to look for in your savings account, according to Forbes contributor Laura Shin:

Federal Deposit insurance

Easy access to the money

Competitive interest rates

Online and mobile access

Basic savings accounts now usually earn very little interest, which makes them less than ideal for growing or investing your money (not that they were ever amazing). But they're great to use as a cushion for overdraft protection or a place to park your emergency fund. Some online banks are able to offer slightly higher interest than the big banks, though. Ally bank, for example, is one of the more popular high-yield interest rate accounts. They currently offer a 0.87% annual percentage yield.

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Get Rich Slowly offers a tool that lists the 50 best online high-yield savings accounts, updated weekly. As of this post, the list includes:

Interest Checking

Ally, for example, offers an interest checking account with a 0.10% Annual Percentage Yield (APY). This isn't much; if you have $1,000 in your account, you're going to earn about a dollar a year.

If you have more than $15,000 in your account, they increase the APY to 0.60%. But most experts and even basic investors would say that $15,000 is way too much to park in a low-interest checking account. Your money would be better off in a CD, brokerage account or even a savings account with a higher rate (remember, Ally's savings account has 0.87% APY—so there's no reason to just put more money there instead of in the checking account).

NerdWallet put together a list of interest checking accounts at a handful of banks and credit unions. Their list is worth checking out, but keep in mind, none of these even hit the one percent APY mark. Still, a few of them are comparable to rates of savings accounts.

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CDs

A Certificate of Deposit is another vehicle for your savings. They're usually time-based, meaning they're offered in terms of that usually vary between three months and five years. Typically, you pay a penalty if you withdraw your money from the account before the set time period.

Because of this, CDs usually offer a higher interest rate than a traditional savings account. Not by much, but the rate will also depend on the length of the CD. The longer the term, the higher the rate.

Variable rate: Your interest rate will vary—it may increase in the future.

Low or no penalty: You aren't penalized for early withdrawal. But this means your interest rate may be lower.

Callable CD: The bank or credit union can shorten the term of the CD.

Jumbo CD: For accounts with a significantly high balance ($100,000). Rates are higher.

IRA CD: Regular CDs held in an IRA.

CDs are also sometimes offered in ladders. This means you start off investing in a shorter-term CD, and as time goes on, you reinvest in a longer-term CD.

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Interest rates for CDs usually aren't much more than you'd get with a traditional savings account, but, if you're looking for one, Nerdwallet also offers a list of the best CD rates.

Money Market Accounts

A money market account is an account that offers a higher interest rate than you'd get with a basic savings account.

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Like a savings account, it's FDIC insured. But, aside from the interest rates, there are a few differences between Money Market accounts and basic savings accounts.

For one, there are fewer restrictions on a money market account. A bank can invest money in treasury notes, bonds, CDs, etc.—essentially, they can take your money and put it in conservative, safe investments. The minimum balance requirement is also usually higher with a money market account. And there are other restrictions, too. The Simple Dollar explains:

Also, money market deposit accounts often have a few additional restrictions and benefits. Some may require a minimum balance; others require you to wait a few days (up to seven) for withdrawals. Some money market accounts, however, allow you to write checks from the account – often up to three a month. Consult the specific policies of any money market account you're considering to see whether these restrictions and features are present.

IRAs

An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is pretty much what it sounds like—an account that allows you to save for your retirement.

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There are two main types of IRAs: Traditional and Roth. With Roth IRAs, you pay taxes on your savings now. With traditional IRAs, you pay taxes later. This is a really basic explanation, though. We've written about the differences in more detail here.

If you want to open an IRA, your first step is picking an investment company like Fidelity or Vanguard. NerdWallet offers their own picks for where to open an IRA account. From there, you can apply online for an account, pick fund(s) to invest in, and then transfer money from a bank account to buy the funds.

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It's important to note that, if you're planning to roll over an IRA from an old employer account, that's a specific process with its own set of rules that vary depending on the company. But you want to make sure to follow those rules, or you could pay unnecessary tax on the money you're intending to roll over.

Brokerage Accounts

If you want to invest your money, but not necessarily in a retirement account (or if you've maxed out your retirement accounts), you might open a brokerage account. A brokerage account is basically an account for investing in the stock market without using a 401(k) or IRA.

Through a brokerage account, you can buy and sell stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other types of investments — in some cases without having to pay taxes on the growth. Although you open a brokerage account through a broker, you can make the investing decisions yourself. Depending on the broker and type of account you choose, the commission (or fee) you pay can be as low as $5-$10 per trade.

As with your IRA, you can open a brokerage account through an investment company like Fidelity, Scottrade, E-TRade, and others. Check out Daily Worth's full post for more detail on different types of brokers.

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There are a few things to keep in mind with brokerage accounts. Some of them will charge you a commission for trading, which is usually between $5-$10. If you trade with the firm's own funds, they might waive this. For example, if I use Vanguard, and I buy Vanguard index fund VTSAX, there is no commission fee.

Fidelity adds that, when picking a brokerage account, it's important to make sure there aren't any maintenance fees. You should also look for a firm with low trading commissions. Many accounts also offer free checking, debit cards and bill pay services.

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These are the most basic types of accounts you'll find at banks, credit unions and investment companies. Knowing the features of each will help you find the best place to park your cash.